2025: What Was That

A big year comes to a close with Christmas in the Midwest

Hi friends,

This is the last newsletter of the year. 2025 is a year that I’ll be thinking about for a long time. It’s one I’ll refer to in conversations for the rest of my life as a year of so many firsts, of so much change, of so much heartache, and so much joy. It had been building for a while and I’m so grateful for all of it. It’s also brings a bit of whiplash—life comes at you fast has been a frequent phrase in my group chats. To recap: this year, I ended a seven year relationship that in many ways had been over for a long time, started living alone for the first time, finally adopted my perfect cat, Este, and met a guy at a rooftop party over the summer (Jared, you might recognize his name from all the great food he makes me) and fell in love. Tomorrow, I’m going to Minnesota for Christmas to meet his family and I’m so excited.

I’m planning to take some time off to be really present and enjoy my first Christmas. I will be packing so many layers and my favorite pajamas. After the new year, we will get into Gentle January, one of my favorite traditions. This year, I’m hosting a Gentle January event at Common Mollie’s on January 10th. We’ll make vibe/vision boards, have some drinks and cookies, and enjoy an excuse to leave the house in January. I hope you’ll come!

Now, let’s dive in.

Love when the last night of Hanukkah falls on solstice & yes, I did paint this menorah myself

Something to cook:

Soup season continues and Jared and I made excellent vegetarian chili with beans and all the fixings. We followed this recipe and added some chipotle in adobo for extra smokiness. The leftovers were excellent and it came together quickly.

The coziest chili

Hillary hosted us to eat Chinese food and watch The Holiday. We ordered dinner but made dessert: boxed brownies, aka the best brownies. Ghirardelli Double Chocolate is my preference here and they are a pantry staple. We swirled in a bit of peanut butter on top and sprinkled them with flakey salt before baking. To serve, vanilla ice cream, which was perfect since it was the anniversary of my Pop Pop’s passing and he loved ice cream.

Since we had extra sour cream from the chili, Jared and I made baked potatoes for dinner on Friday. They were extremely cozy, topped with broccoli, scallion lemon sour cream, and gruyere cheese.

On Saturday, we used a million bowls to make an incredible lasagna with mushrooms, kale, seasoned ricotta and a mushroom velouté. It was super savory and I will be eating the leftovers for days. Jared found the idea on reddit and then we improvised a bunch to make each layer extra flavorful.

This had two huge bunches of kale in it so it’s basically a salad

Lizzi and I made pumpkin bread and muffins so I can hopefully impress Jared’s family. Wish me luck! We also enjoyed leftover lasagna and leftover butternut squash soup she had made.

Something to order:

Leah, Lizzi, Erika and I had a cheeky happy hour at Cozy Royale, which is all decorated for the holidays. Their half portions of salads are the perfect snack and fries are a must!

I got a haircut on Tuesday and was starving afterwards. I got two slices at the original Joe’s Pizza on Carmine and they were perfect. I love New York.

A real empire state of mind

Jared and I saw Gruesome Playground Injuries at the Lucille Lortel Theater and had pre show tacos from Tacos 1986. Their mushroom quesadilla was lovely and I tried all of the salsas. The show was really well done, Kara Young was incredible.

Sometimes tostadas are better than chips

Hillary ordered us Chinese food from Pig Heaven, which has good vegetarian options, despite the name, including sesame noodles, lo mein, and eggplant.

Brandon and Alyssa hosted a Hanukkah party at Tuffet, which is a great place for events (my sister and Erika had their engagement party there). They brought delicious latkes and also got some charcuterie. It’s a great reminder that you can host without having people over!

Something to read:

I’m reading The Wilderness, about five friends, and so into it.

Childcare spending diaries from New York City families make me very stressed.

I love Sarah Jannetti’s content and this was a fun interview

How incredible is this Goodnight Moon hotel suite? by Sydney Gore

Olivia Weiss has restaurant meals under $60 for a very expensive month. Some very good ideas in there.

It’s been five years since the divorce, and we’re all thriving. I love stories like this—things can get so much better.

What’s Worth Remembering from 2025 by Phillip Picardi

It is not that we are all in this together; it is that we are all affected regardless.

Lots of good holiday party insights from Marian Bull

The Waiting Game or how long to wait for a proposal (I have thoughts, lol)

Most people think of it as failure. For me it was an achievement.

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Yesterday was the solstice and I took a long walk, with a hot chocolate and a phone call with a friend to carry me home in the wind. Leaving the house is good. Starting today, the sun will set a little later each day. Sumo citrus season has begun. Even though it’s the thick of winter, it’s getting lighter every day. I hope the end of the year is kind to you and I’m so grateful you’re here.

xo, Abigail